


leave a light on (guide me home)

by dogsbreath



Series: danny and steve and the strays they picked up along the way [2]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Angst, Family Feels, Family of Choice, Hurt/Comfort, Protective Danny "Danno" Williams, steve and danny give her multiple, tani deserves a hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2021-01-05 12:50:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21208835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dogsbreath/pseuds/dogsbreath
Summary: or, four times tani accidentally calls danny “danno” and one time she does it on purpose





	leave a light on (guide me home)

**Author's Note:**

> ok so i looked, there’s absolutely no record of tani’s mother anywhere so that’s why it’s touched on that she was just never in the picture at all

she’s been with five-0 for four months the first time she gets that ache in her chest. she remembers the ache— it was the same one she got whenever her friends spoke about their mothers, and since her father died, fathers. she never knew her mom, and her dad had been one of the best. she was fine with it, had come to terms that both her parents were gone and there was nothing she could do about it. 

she goes down in the middle of a firefight with local yakuza. adam took over her position as she slid down the wall, hand instantly covering the new bullet wound in her leg. it hurts and she groans and clenches her teeth to keep the tears from falling. it’s been a while since she got shot. 

adam sends the last guy, the one that hit her, to the ground, and kneels in front of her, radioing for a bus through his comm. the rest of the house isn’t cleared, and he has to do it, so she grabs his tac vest and pushes him back. 

“go,” she orders, “i’ll be fine, do not let these assholes get away.” 

he doesn’t want to, but she glares at him and he goes. there’s a few gunshots before she hears their backup arrive. it’s danny, and junior, and steve and tani can barely feel her foot and for the first time in a while she’s scared. 

it’s danny who sees her first, and then she hears steve tell junior to go upstairs and find adam as danny kneels in front of her. she shuts her eyes to hide the tears there and danny taps her cheek lightly with his fingers. 

“hey, tan, look at me,” he orders gently. tani shakes her head, breathing deeply. “bullets still in there, if we just stop the bleeding i’ll be fine.” 

she doesn’t see the look danny gives steve, but she hears steve back off and sit on the hood of the car she’d been using as cover. danny’s hands cover hers and pries hers away, and she tilts her head back until it hits the car. 

“look at me, kid, cmon,” he urges softly. tani opens her eyes, and uses her bloody hand to wipe angrily at the tears that fall. she’s scared and she doesn’t know why, and when she locks eyes with danny he nods. 

“it’s okay to be scared, tani,” he says quietly. she huffs out a choppy breath and shakes her head, “i don’t know why i’m so scared though,” she whispers. 

she doesn’t hear his response, because her hearing keeps going in and out, and her eyes flicker shut every few seconds. she does feel herself being moved, and now she’s laying down, and hands are on her injury and it hurts and she yells out. 

dannys wiping his hands off in his pants and grabbing tani’s hand to keep them in place while steve and junior try to stop the bleeding in her leg. he sits on the ground and puts her head in his lap, and he’s not surprised when running a hand through her hair calms her down the same way it does to grace. 

junior puts more pressure on her leg and her eyes open, and she's crying now and adam has to hold her other leg still because she’s almost kicked steve in the face twice. 

“hey, tan, look at me,” he orders, panic entering his voice. she does, and he grabs her hand to keep her still. “steve has to get the bullet out, okay, and this is gonna hurt, but you gotta stay still, okay? can you do that for me, kiddo?”

“danno,” she murmures, and then the only thing she feels is white hot pain and she screams in a way she hasn’t in years, and danny let’s her grip his hand hard enough to bruise and he’s running a hand through her hair. 

dannys smiling down at her when it subsides and he nodded, “you did great, kid, danno’s very proud of you,” he whispers softly to her. tani nods, and her eyes close. 

danny keeps her awake after that, he tries to, anyways. steve sits on the other side of her head, and he shares a look with danny, and she's too exhausted to decipher it. she doesn’t remember being loaded into the ambulance. 

————

she’s drugged to the high heavens by the time she wakes up. her leg aches and so does her head, and she tries to move a hand up to rub her eyes but the iv gets in the way. she fights with it, and it’s only dannys hand gently untangling it that makes her pause. 

“hey,” he greets, “steve and junior are out catching the guys who shot at you and adam, so you’re stuck with me.” 

“don’t mind,” tani says quietly, tired and lethargic, “danno’s always fun, ‘cept when he complains about pineapples.” 

she knows she’s not allowed to call him that, but she’s too drugged to realize she said it. danny nods along with her, “oh, is he now? and what's wrong with complaining about pineapples?” 

she points at him, “they’re good, especially on pizza.” 

danny nods and laughs and shakes his head as he lowers her finger, “go back to sleep, kiddo, danno’ll be here when you get up.” 

and just like that, sleep takes her again. 

————

it’s three months later and she’s in a firefight again but this time, it’s not her getting shot, it’s danny. danny goes down with a grunt and tani empties her barrel into the guy that hit him. she clears the last room and rushes back to danny, stepping over dead bodies and puddles of blood as she calls for a bus. 

she kneels next to him, and he’s clutching at his tac vest. “off,” he wheezes, and she rips it off, and unbuttons his shirt. there’s already a bruise forming on his rib cage. she winces, and danny takes a moment to try and breathe, and when he can’t catch his breath, tani panics. 

“danny?” she asks quietly when he coughs, and she doesn’t move him in case that would be bad. “tan,” he huffs, and she looks up, and sees his eyes shutting, and she shakes her head, “no, no, no, danno, don’t do that, please,” she begs. 

he opens his eyes and for a second she feels scared. she shouldn’t have called him that, it’s a title reserved for grace, and charlie, and nahele, and junior, and tani feels a spike of jealousy. she pushes it down, and talks to fill the void, “two minutes out, cmon, danny, cmon,” she says.

danny nods and wheezes out a question about the mermaid school junior took her to and she rambles about it until steve arrives with the ambulance and pulls her back so that the paramedics can get to danny. steve wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulls her back into the hall, away from where the medical examiner was coming in to inspect the bodies. 

she pulls away and steve has the look of anger on his face and she’s not entirely sure if it’s directed at her or not and danny got fucking shot and she’s scared. “what happened?” he asks. 

tani can’t even stutter out a sentence and he looks angry again and she freezes and backs up against the wall. she’s never been scared of steve but right now, she can’t stop the fear coursing through her. her back hits the wall and it knocks something loose and suddenly she’s talking. 

“we were shooting and he went down, it hit his vest, and he started wheezing and he c-couldn’t catch his breath, and i didn’t know what to do while i was waiting for you so i started talking and it all happened so fast… is he gonna be okay?” 

noelani calls steve over. she doesn’t get an answer to her question so she gives her statement to junior and sits down on the arm of a chair. she sees junior go up to steve and touch his arm and she can’t hear what he’s saying over the white noise of noelani’s assistants talking and the sirens but she sees steve squeeze juniors shoulder and sees junior relax and she can’t stay there anymore. 

she runs, and distantly hears herself knock over a vase by accident on her way out but she doesn’t stop until she finds herself bent over some rocks and throwing up her lunch. she’s still scared and steves angry and she still not entirely sure if it’s directed at her and she can’t help the tears that well up at that thought because the last thing she ever wanted was to upset the only father figures she’s had in ten years. 

danny’s sitting up in the back of the ambulance with an oxygen mask on and a paramedic wrapping his ribs when tani runs out, and he’s not the only one who sees the impending throw up because lou’s on his way over and he hold back her hair and rubs her back and tani let’s out a sob (of fear? surprise? she doesn’t even know herself) that danny can hear from ten feet away. 

lou lets her hair go when she stands and he’s the first one to notice the way her hand shakes and breathing is quickened so he brings her over to the ambulance. at least he tries, because once she sees where he’s taking her she shakes her head and tries her best to get out of his grip and danny sees steve and junior come outside and tani lays eyes on steve and she freezes, enough to let lou take her over and for danny to know whats wrong. 

an oxygen mask gets put on tani’s face and danny takes his own off to shoo away the paramedics. steve comes over then, and danny levels him with a glare that makes him stop.

“what are you doing, danny, you shouldn’t-“  
“go away, steve,” 

“what?” he asks, surprised. danny takes a look at where tani is avoiding even looking in the direction of steve and shakes his head, “go, steve. you’re scaring her.” 

steve glances at tani, and its as if he finally sees how upset she is, and the guilt is instantly written on his face. danny pushes him a few steps away, “tell me what you did later, and we’ll figure it out, but right now, the only thing you’re doing is scaring her, okay, and that’s not going to help her break the shock she’s in, so leave, steve.” 

he leaves and danny kneels in front of tani. she won’t look at him, so tilts her head to face him, and he sees how truly scared she is. he smiles softly, “hey, i’m fine, i’ll be back to normal in a few weeks, nothing to worry about.” 

she looks at him and nods shakily, pulling at the mask. once it’s off, she starts rambling quietly again, except this time it’s not about a good time playing mermaid, she’s frightened, and nervous. 

“i’m sorry, i should’ve seen it. if i had then you wouldn’t be hurt and you and steve wouldn’t be mad. i’m sorry i made you mad, really i didn’t mean to, and i hope you won’t stay mad because i don’t know what i’d do if i lost—“ 

“i’m not mad. why would i be mad at you? steves not mad, he has no reason to be mad. you didn’t do anything wrong, tani.” 

tani shook her head, “no he’s mad, he’s got his angry face whenever he looks at me, and he answered juniors questions but not mine and i don’t know why that upset me but it did and you have to talk to him, please, i didn’t mean to make him mad.”

tani feels pathetic, but she’s scared, and when she’s scared she rambles and she’s just letting everything slip and if she doesn’t stop talking she’s going to talk herself out of five-0. 

danny looks angry now too, and tani freezes. he shakes his head and smiles, “no one is angry at you, i promise, okay?” 

she nods, and pulls her into a hug, “i know you’re scared, okay, i would be too,” he whispers and tani nods against his shoulder. 

“not mad?”  
“not mad.” 

lou drives her home, because she still can’t quite look at junior or steve without the sharp twinge of want when she sees how easily he was taken in by danny and steve. 

————

koa overdoses in her bathroom not even two weeks later and the first person tani calls is steve. 

“steve?” she asks, hands shaking as she checks her brothers pulse. it’s there, but it’s not as strong as it should be. 

“tani? what’s wrong?” danny asks. she’s on speakerphone, but she’s staring at her unconscious brother, who’s sprawled out in her bathtub and she cries. 

“he said he was clean, danno, i thought he was clean, he was doing good, he was sober, but he’s not waking up and i don’t know what to do with him anymore.” 

“danny call an ambulance,” steve murmurs, and she heard the dial from dannys phone as steve takes her off speaker, “okay, tani, calm down, we’re almost there, what happened?” 

“i woke up and he was just laying there, he’s not waking up, and there’s a needle on the ground and he promised me he would stop, steve.” 

“i know, okay, we’re here, and the ambulance is two minutes out.” 

the line goes dead and tani sits on the toilet and puts her head in her hands as she hears her front door open. 

“tani?”

“in here,” she calls 

danny goes to koa while steve pulls her out of the bathroom and into the living room. she’s shaking, and she looks scared, so steve does the first thing he thinks of. he hugs her. and she just relaxes into it. 

she watches paramedics take her brother out on a stretcher five minutes later and danny sits her on a chair and hands her a glass of water. “drink.” he orders. 

“what are you gonna do?” steve asks. tani shakes her head, “i can’t keep doing this anymore, he was doing so good, and now this… i have to send him back to rehab, i have to.” 

“we’ll help.” danny nods. 

————

koa overdoses in her bathroom that morning and after a day in the hospital, she’s in dannys car on the way back home. they’re sitting in silence and tani’s picking at her nails when danny speaks. 

“you know, you can call me danno. i don’t mind.” 

“really?” tani asks quietly. danny nods and pulls over. “i was talking to steve about taking you in too after you got shot in the leg. we just haven’t gotten around to making a decision, but after two weeks ago, i wasn’t going to ask him. i was going to do it, because you looked so alone that day i couldn’t let it go.”

“thank you,” she murmured, trying really hard to fight the tears. danny nodded, “so, as far as i’m concerned, you’re my kid, and no one is going to tell me otherwise. got it?” he asks. tani nods. 

“got it, danno.”


End file.
